


A Song With No End

by Estirose



Category: Zero: Shisei no Koe | Fatal Frame III: The Tormented
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pre-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8987479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: Rei gets to know Yuu a bit better.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FireEye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireEye/gifts).



"Rei!"

Rei turned around. Yuu was headed towards her, a big grin on his face. He often did smile, although the grin made him look slightly dorky. She'd seen him smile, she'd seen him frown in concentration, she'd seen everything practically inbetween. She knew that this smile was aimed at her and her alone, though, because she'd never seen Yuu smile that way at anybody else.

"Sorry I'm late. I was discussing some folklore with Mafuyu." She had a vague notion that this was a friend of his, or at least a fellow student of the field. Or maybe one of his work collagues? She was never sure. "I brought the food."

She smiled back at him. He could be a bit of a dork, but he was incredibly kind and patient, unlike her. Well, she supposed she could be kind, but not at Yuu's level. He was the one that had befriended her last year, when he was in his second year of college, and she in her first. He said that photography and folklore had a lot in common, because they both documented things in their own way. "Then let's go, shall we?"

The two of them walked together towards the park. It was a pretty day to do so, warm but not too warm, sunny but not too sunny. The perfect day to enjoy each other's company.

"I saw the photos you took at the exhibit," Yuu said, after they'd settled down on the blanket and Rei was getting the food out. "I thought your photos of the local festival were interesting. Did you notice how the booths were set up?"

"No," Rei said honestly. She had to admit that she hadn't really paid attention to anything other than how they looked, especially in contrast to the foliage around them. Rainbows against green and red, that was all she cared about. Her expertise was framing things so that they looked appealing, or at least interesting, or maybe beautiful.

"I noticed they were set up this way...." he said, and then launched into an explanation of how the customs had been developed, on why things were displayed as they were. Rei had to admit that it was impressive the amount of things that Yuu knew.

"So, it was almost all religious in the beginning?" Rei asked.

"Some of it was, at least." Yuu smiled at that. "There's a lot of things out there that we do just because it's tradition."

Rei hadn't really thought of that. "Or because we're tired of tradition."

"Or because we want to change tradition, though that's hard." Yuu leaned back a little. "I have a friend who's working on a robotic cat, just because he can."

"What's the name?" Rei asked. Maybe she would know this one, for once. She doubted it; he had an impressive variety of friends out there and it was impossible to keep track of them all.

"His name is Maeda Ryou - unless you're referring to the cat, which he hopes to name Suki someday." Yuu shook his head, though Rei doubted it was a judgment about Maeda Ryou or his creation. There might have been even some amusement in his voice.

"A robotic cat. Huh." She shifted closer to him. "I guess you meet a lot of people."

"You meet a lot of people too, Rei. Don't shortchange yourself." 

"I meet people and I see enough to make art. You see people and you really get to know them. I guess you have to." He edited books, so he had to know a lot of things, or at least know who to ask about things. And the easiest way to get to know what people knew was to ask them. Or just have lists of information that people knew, but she knew that Yuu liked to go far beyond that. "I wish I was better at really getting to know people."

"Mr. Kisargi said that you never knew what could happen in your life, so it was good to make friends." Yuu looked over at her. "Genta - his son - and I went to elemetary school together, and Genta was always greeting people and asking how their days were. I was bit shy, but I saw how happy it made him, so I did it too. I've never regretted it."

Rei tried to imagine Yuu as shy and couldn't help it. She giggled. "You, shy?"

"I was, once. Genta taught me not to be afraid of people. Or anything." He took a sip of his drink. "His father owned a motorcycle repair shop and he taught me to ride."

That was even more amazing to her. He'd never ridden a motorcycle in the time she'd known him, nor did he seem the type to do so. She even tried to imagine him in a delinquent's uniform - though that wasn't likely, given Yuu's family and how humble he was.

"I should meet Genta sometime," Rei said. "He and his father sound like great people."

"They are. And I'm sure he'd be happy to meet you. He's studying particle physics - trying to expand the universe a little." There might have been an inside joke in those words, but Rei was hardly going to begrudge Yuu's friend that joke. "I wanted to introduce you anyway. He likes everybody. He takes after his parents that way."

"And your whole family is into folklore?" She was pretty sure that was why he'd gone into studying folklore, or one of the reasons.

"Not really. I just like both history and stories, and folklore is both of those. My family is rich in history. I've seen some of the stuff we've kept around over the decades, and it's really fascinating!"

His family was rich, old, and maybe a little bit odd, depending on what one heard. Or maybe just some members of the family were odd. She wasn't sure. None of which applied to Yuu. Yuu was sweet, gentle, not stuck up at all. He wanted to be with people and to hear their stories. He wanted to edit books so that people could enjoy them. 

He'd told her once that he'd love to just move from place to place, talking to people and recording their history and stories just so that they wouldn't get lost or become myth. Just like she could document with her camera, he could document with his words. She wasn't sure if she wanted to live out of a set of suitcases, but with Yuu, it was appealing. She could possibly live like that for him, even if she preferred to have a physical building of her own to come home to.

There was time to think about that. Yuu hadn't asked her to marry him, not while they were still students. There was time to discuss things, to compromise, to decide how they were going to live and grow old together. And today, the food was good and the company pleasant. What more could she ask for than that?


End file.
